All kids are kids

Children's Dispensary has long history of helping special needs children enjoy life.

Children's Dispensary has long history of helping special needs children enjoy life.

December 30, 2005|JIM MEENAN Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND Pop, pizza, conversation. Anticipation, excitement, laughter. And cake, too. Yes, there were fun times at the Elks Club bowling alley on McKinley Avenue recently as a bunch of kids got ready to bowl. One was in a wheelchair. Another followed the hands of teacher Kelly Westgate as she signed her instructions. Several used handicap ball ramps that allowed them to merely push the ball and have it roll down the ramp and toward the pins. And some of the alleys had large bumpers that filled the gutters -- meaning no gutter balls. These were not your typical kids, as each had at least one special need. But on this night, the only need that mattered was the need to be a kid. And thanks to the Children's Dispensary Inc. of South Bend, they were getting that chance. "It is socialization," said Jane Dalka of Lakeville as she sat with daughter Alyssa, 20, and watched her son, Zachary, 11, bowl. "I think it's more important than the academics for special-needs kids." For Zachary and Alyssa, it was a chance to spend 90 minutes among peers and not be conscious of their respective special needs. "My son, I just couldn't get him interested in doing things with other kids," Dalka said. "And he started coming here with my daughter. And he's been in the baseball, (too)." In alley No. 1, Zachary and a friend twisted and turned as his ball curved toward the pins, then celebrated after a successful roll. "My son was going to a private school and kids are going to be kids," she explained. "They can be mean when you have different things going on. They are just so much more accepting here." For Brandon Schultz, 12, of South Bend, who uses a wheelchair, acceptance at school has not been a problem. He has plenty of friends there. Here, though, it was a chance to throw his own ball fast and shoot for strikes, all while sitting in his moving wheelchair as it sped toward the end line. "It's fun to bowl because I like bowling a lot," he said, adding he looks forward to it all week. "He gets to play sports," said his dad, James Schultz, of what the program meant. "It's a lot of fun just to be one of the kids. Pizza and fun, that's what it's all about." Whether it's the teen club meeting Fridays in the basement of the Jamison Inn or the Fun and Learn Club meeting Saturdays at Saint Mary's College for ages 5 to 14, or bowling on Mondays, fitting in with your peers is a gift the Children's Dispensary of South Bend provides special needs youngsters year round in Michiana. The Children's Dispensary was founded in 1909 by Dr. Charles Hansel as a free dispensary and hospital to benefit sick babies in congested areas of South Bend. It has evolved over the years to fit numerous roles. It first got involved with special needs children in the 1930s. It turned over its pediatric work to Saint Joseph and Memorial Hospitals in 1966. At that time, the Children's Dispensary & Hospital on West Washington was converted to a neighborhood center, the Hansel Center. In the ensuing years various programs were added for special needs children. "We like to start programs in the community where there's a void," said Anne Kovas, board president for the next three years. "But once we get them started, if somebody else can do it, we like to turn them over."